As known in the art, applicators are used to both house materials intended to be inserted in a body cavity, such as a tampon or medicaments and to expel the material into the intended orifice. Typically applicators comprise an insertion member and a plunger. The material to be expelled from the applicator, such as an absorbent tampon, is positioned within the insertion member. The insertion member has a first end for insertion of the tampon and a second end for receipt of the plunger. To use the applicator, the consumer will position the first end appropriately, grasp the insertion member, and move the plunger in the insertion member towards the first end to insert the tampon. Some applicators also include a fingergrip configuration that is located on the insertion member, which allows the consumer to more securely hold the applicator during insertion of a material into the body cavity.
Various fingergrip configurations have been proposed to facilitate the handling of the applicator and to improve the insertion experience. One approach is a tampon applicator having an integral fingergrip that is formed by embossing the outside surface of the insertion member of the tampon applicator. The embossed portion of the applicator may take the form of a series of circumferential rings or a series of discrete raised dots. Examples of such fingergrips can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,526 issued to Jackson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,308 issued to Fox, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,501 issued to Klesius; U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,964 issued to Huffman; U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,963 issued to Sheldon; U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,042 issued to Nelvin, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,833 issued to Weigner, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,634 issued to Berger; U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,533 issued to Berger; U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,533 issued to Leyer; U.S. Pat. No. 2,922,423 issued to Rickard; U.S. Pat. No. 2,587,717 issued to Fourness; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,489,502 issued to Ruth.
Another approach to the gripping problem is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,169 issued to Voss, et al., which provides separate raised elements that are applied to an outer tube of a tampon applicator to provide a fingergrip. The elements can be formed of plastic, rubber, ceramic, or other materials, and can be affixed to the outer tube by interference fit or by bonding.
While many have tried to design and manufacture tampon applicators having these improved qualities, there still remains a need for a tampon applicator that has gripping features that provide limited resistance to finger slip during the insertion and the expulsion of the tampon applicator.